


The Enemy Of My Enemy

by Mars_McKie



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Camping, Fishing, Ignis and Gladio are basically mum and dad, Noct and Prompto their naughty kids, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Spanking, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 08:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15020846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_McKie/pseuds/Mars_McKie
Summary: As tensions rise in camp between Gladio and Ignis, Noct and Prompto execute a prank to help with their bad moods.





	1. The Set Up

“ _Oh what a beautiful evening~_ ” Prompto crooned to the sky as he threw himself gaily around the Lachyrte Haven in a dance for one. The sun was slowly setting over Galdin Quay in a kaleidoscope of colours reflected in the open ocean while the temperature stayed steady with just a hint of a sea breeze to take away the heat; the words that he sang were as true as they would ever be.

Except-

“It doesn’t make sense to camp when civilisation is so close by,” Gladio growled. Prompto’s dance came to an end when the Shield dumped the tenting equipment that he had pulled from the armiger onto the rocky floor.

“His highness wished to use the opportunity to experiment in catching fish at different times of the day,” Ignis reminded him, his tone sneering as he set up his portable cooking station.

Prompto sighed privately. It was a hazard when the four of them were around each other all day every day that they would start bickering over petty matters, and the tension between Ignis and Gladio had been rising steadily for several days now. It always felt worse when they were the ones to squabble; them being the eldest two of the group, Prompto mentally likened it to when his parents would fight when he had been younger. The icy atmosphere that had settled into the evening was identical to the one he used to dread whenever he went home.

Prompto opened his mouth to offer some consolidation but was cut off when Gladio delivered an angry kick to the mass of canvas and tent poles. “His highness could do with a reminder that he’s not the only one in this party.”

“Stop bitchin’, start pitchin’,” Ignis snapped in a cruel mimicry of what Gladio had so often shouted at them during battle.

“I’mmm gonna check on Noct...” Prompto muttered as Gladio rounded on Ignis. He made it down to the edge of the haven before their shouting match rendered the air.

 _This is far too much like mum and dad_ , he decided. Doing his best to block out the spite-filled words, Prompto walked the distance up the Vannath Coast to where Noctis stood at the fishing spot, twitching the lure this way and that in an attempt to entice any fish to bite.

Noct turned at the noise and waved to Prompto. Grateful for the invitation they sat together, dangling their legs over the edge of the pier. Noct set the fishing rod between his knees and jerked his head towards the haven.

“They’ve been on edge all day, it's no surprise.”

“It's been a while since they argued this bad. It's awful when they're the ones to argue,” Prompto murmured.

Noct nodded. “It’s better to let them sort themselves out when they’re like this. Give them some space.”

“It feels horrible though,” Prompto pouted. Noct clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly and they stared off into the distance. Noct occasionally got excited as the lure bobbed in the water when a fish hit it, and Prompto photographed the sunset.

Within ten minutes the yelling had died down and they chanced a glance back towards the haven- both Ignis and Gladio were continuing to set up camp and seemed to be talking, stiffly but quieter than a few minutes ago.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Prompto leapt onto the beach with his camera in hand and took a few shots of Noct fishing against the rainbow sky. The fish seemed too docile to care for the lure, but the evening felt far more peaceful now that Ignis and Gladio seemed to have vented their frustrations. As Prompto made to check a photo, he spotted something.

“Hey Noct, check this out!” Prompto called. Crouching down, under the fishing shack he noticed a small rock pool had formed where the tide had receded. A cluster of miniscule crabs -camouflaged so that they were almost translucent in the seawater- were gathered there, scuttling over each other in the search for food.

Noct dispelled his rod and jumped down to his side, leaning in to look.

“Aw, they’re cute,” Noct smiled, reaching in and plucking out one of the crabs. It sat in the palm of his hand, tiny compared to the Shieldshears they had slain on the way to the haven. It waved its pincers in the air, confused by its sudden removal from the pool.

“There’s so many of them,” Prompto sighed, getting the shot of the rock pool.

“Hey.” Looking up, Prompto saw Noct was grinning. “How are Iggy and Gladio looking?”

Prompto looked back over to the haven. “They’ve finished setting up. Why?”

“You reckon we’d be able to smuggle these guys back to the tent? It would be a shame for them not to meet these little guys.”

It took a second for Prompto to catch his meaning. When he did, his eyes went wide and a mischievous grin stole over his face as he shrugged off his jacket. “Here- use this!”

Noct worked for a minute, scooping out all of the crabs that he could catch and tossing them into his makeshift vessel. Now came the tricky part. On approaching the haven, they saw Ignis and Gladio talking (amicably, it had to be said) over by the cooker, their backs turned to them. Their route to the pitched tent was clear, the sleeping bags set ready for them to collapse into later.

“Here you go, little guys, we’ve got a nice new home for you!” Noct crooned.

“Nice and warm in here!”

“No- get them right down to the bottom!”

“Ha ha!”

“Shhh!”

Giggling quietly, Prompto brushed the sand off his jacket and they slipped away from the tent, pretending to come back around from the fishing spot. Their prank probably wouldn’t make the atmosphere in camp any easier, but they felt that Ignis and Gladio could do with lightening up anyway. If nothing else, it might cause them to come together for revenge against them. Prompto shuddered. He hadn’t considered that before.

_The enemy of my enemy is my friend, or something like that._


	2. The Execution

The skewered wild trout that Ignis prepared was as delicious as ever, though despite it being one of his favourite dishes Gladio would be lying if he said he wasn’t bored of fish by now. As Noct was on a fishing spree, dragging them around so many of the fishing spots in Lucis, fish was the main ingredient in many of their meals these days.

Gladio sat with pursed lips, picking at the trout on his plate. For the most part his argument with Ignis earlier had burned through their irritation and left them with the guilt for shouting at each other over petty matters.

“There’s no need to worry about us, Prompto,” Ignis said suddenly. Prompto jumped; most likely, Gladio realised, he had been looking between the two of them and wondering if they might kick off again.

“Uh, I...” Prompto stammered at being caught looking.

“We’re alright. Seriously,” said Gladio, giving a reassuring smile before he maned up and apologised. “We’re sorry you had to hear us argue like that.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Prompto said, smiling and waving away the apology.

“What were you guys arguing about anyway?” Noct asked as he finished off his last skewer.

Ignis shared a look with Gladio, clearly asking _Do you want to answer or shall I?_ Gladio leaned forward, set down his half-finished plate and started talking. “I’ve not been sleeping well these past two nights. Yeah, I know, I should be used to roughing it by now,” he scoffed at himself. “I think I pulled a muscle when we fought those Elder Coeurls, and camping’s not been great for it.”

“It’s a similar story here. An amount of exhaustion,” Ignis admitted.

“Why didn’t you say?” Noct said, finally understanding. “We’d have put the fishing on hold.”

“Yeah, we could say sod it to camping and get a caravan now, if you want,” Prompto chimed in.

“Nah, it’s cool for tonight,” said Gladio, standing up and abandoning the trout.

“Tomorrow then,” Noct said. “You guys can pick any caravan or hotel you want.”

“Thanks,” Gladio smiled, appreciating the gesture. “But I think I’ll turn in now, get an early night.”

“I think I’ll join you,” Ignis agreed. “Will your highness be resting now?”

A small squeak from Prompto drew all of their attention, before Noct said, “Actually, Prom and I were gonna keep fishing down at the spot for a while...”

Ignis nodded. “Stay safe, look after each other, and if anything happens shout for us. And don’t stay out too long- we don't want to risk summoning any daemons.”

“Sure thing, Iggy,” Noct said, handing his plate to Ignis before grabbing Prompto by the jacket and dragging him away.

The washing up was done in minutes, and soon the two men retreated to the tent. The night air was humid enough that they could comfortably strip down to their boxers, Ignis calmly folding his clothes and Gladio doing the same, not wanting to earn Ignis’s anger again by leaving his clothes strewn over the floor of the tent. Ignis took off his glasses and set them on top of his clothes while Gladio turned on the light behind his head and sat up in his sleeping bag to read.

“Ugh, camping on the beach can suck sometimes,” Gladio said, brushing out some sand that had found its way into his sleeping bag.

“Are you going to be reading for long?” Ignis asked, a slight edge to his voice.

“Just to the end of this chapter. If that’s OK?”

Ignis nodded (evidently also wanting to avoid another confrontation) as he laid down and snuggled deep into his sleeping bag. “I’m sure I can manage.”

“’Kay. Let me know if it gets too long,” Gladio said. Ignis turned away from him and Gladio found his page. He could never sleep straight away- his mind always needed time to settle down after the events of the day. Here on the Vannath Coast Noct was safe, Gladio was able to rest for now, he had the promise of a bed in a hotel the next night, and he had his favourite book. It was getting to the good part where the heroine had her sword and shield in hand and was about to do battle with her enemy. The way that the villain was written always made Gladio’s skin crawl-

_Wait... was that his skin crawling?_

A shiver ran through his body. It felt like there was something -or some _things_ \- creeping over his legs and brushing against his leg hairs.

As he straightened up to inspect, a chuckle from Ignis distracted him.

“What’s got you bothered?” he asked. Ignis rolled onto his back and kicked his feet- his eyes were wide in surprise while more giggles slipped out of his mouth.

“There’s- eep!” He was having trouble getting the words out. “Something’s tickling my feet!”

“What?”

Ignis laughed and thrashed, trying to escape the sleeping bag that was cocooning him, when Gladio felt the somethings that he had felt before and knew this time he wasn’t imagining it. It was like bugs crawling over his legs, and then-

“Ngh! There’s something in my boxers!” Gladio shouted. A bolt of electricity ran up his spine and he leapt to his feet in shock. Some greyish creatures fell from his legs as he threw off the covers but he was more concerned with the one taking up residence in his underwear. He mindlessly shook his leg but failed to dislodge it, so he nervously reached down with a hand to remove the creature.

“Argh!” he yelled. The creature had pinched his finger, sharp. _Well, better my finger than something else_ , he thought. Withdrawing his hand, he brought with it the culprit- a small and unassuming semi-translucent crab, clutching onto his finger with a tiny pincer. Looking down at his sleeping bag he saw more of the crabs scuttling across the covers.

Beside him on the floor, Ignis succeeded in extracting himself from his sleeping bag, his breaths heaving. On upending his sleeping bag more tiny crabs fell out from where they had nestled down at the bottom.

Together they stormed out of the tent, in time to see two figures tearing away up the beach. Gladio almost wanted to admire them for their well executed prank.

“They are so dead!” Ignis growled. It was hard for Gladio to take him seriously when the advisor was so dishevelled, his usually neat pompadour falling down his face and his cheeks stained with tears of laughter.

“Let them stew. They’ll have to come back eventually,” Gladio grinned. _Well played, boys_ , he thought privately, already planning his comeback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware of the negative connotations of the phrase "Man Up", though here I see Gladio using it in the sense of being mature enough to say "I'm sorry" and talk about his weaknesses. I feel like it would be something he'd say to himself, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on it.


	3. The Retribution

After leaving the campsite, Noct pulled Prompto behind the tent to eavesdrop. He could tell that Prompto was having second thoughts about the prank, and after he had heard their troubles at dinner Noct was feeling bad himself, but the pay off dispelled any reservations they might have had.

When they heard Ignis chuckle and announce that his feet were being tickled, they both gasped in delight and shot each other a thumbs up. Neither of them had ever heard Ignis make a noise like that before; his voice high pitched and light from giggling. It got even better when Gladio shouted that one of the crabs had found its way into his boxers; they both stuffed their fists in their mouths to stop themselves from laughing out loud as his shadow -cast onto the canvas by his light- jumped around in an attempt to dislodge the crab. When Gladio yelled in pain they looked at each other in terror, fearing where the crab might have pinched.

As Ignis’s shadow joined Gladio’s in getting to his feet, they both sprinted up the beach, not stopping until they were a safe distance away at the fishing spot where they doubled over with laughter. The prank had gone better than either of them could have hoped for.

Once they had laughed themselves hoarse, they agreed that it might be a good idea not to return to camp that night. Neither Ignis nor Gladio came after them, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t get their own back if given the chance.

Noct summoned his fishing rod and they sat and laughed together for some time, the scene reminiscent of the sleepovers they’d had as teenagers, but as the night crept on they started feeling guilty again, and not to mention growing bored and tired.

Though they managed to nap for a few hours, the wooden pier wasn’t particularly comfortable to sleep on but if they moved to the beach then they ran the risk of their presence summoning daemons. As the sky slowly lightened, they also found themselves getting very hungry.

A few hours later, Noct nudged Prompto awake when he saw smoke rise from the campsite that signalled Ignis was cooking breakfast. Hunger had them walking slowly back, stretching the cramp out of their limbs.

Ignis and Gladio were both up and dressed. Noct and Prompto sat down in their camp chairs- about the only things except for the cooking station that Gladio hadn’t tidied away into the armiger- and they adopted suitably sheepish and remorseful expressions.

“Morning,” Ignis said, his tone only slightly more stiff than usual.

“Yeah, um, sorry we stayed out all night,” Prompto apologised.

“Did you manage to catch anything decent?” Gladio asked, coming over to join them.

“A couple of barrelfish,” Noct said. He and Prompto shared a nervous glance- why were Ignis and Gladio not more upset?

“The fishing spot could not have been a comfortable place to sleep,” said Ignis, picking up two plates and bringing them over to the chairs.

“Is that breakfast?” Prompto asked, eyeing the plates eagerly.

“Eat up,” Ignis said, and handed them their food.

“This looks good!” Noct said. Breakfast consisted of eggs with some form of meat and peas ( _gross, those would need to be picked out_ ). Noct ate a large fork-full. “Mm, yeah, this is really good!”

“Is it something new?” Prompto asked around a mouthful.

“Not so much a new recipeh, more I had some ingredients to use up.”

“Yeah, what is the meat?” Noct asked, spearing one of the small white lumps.

“It’s a change from all of the fish we’ve been having recently- it is my Creamy Crustacean Omelette,” said Ignis, his fingers to his lips. “So the meat would be _fresh crab._ ”

Noct and Prompto both froze mid bite. _Oh shit_. Before they had a chance to do anything, Gladio had them by the backs of their collars and hoisted them from their seats.

“You two are in for it now,” Gladio growled.

“We’re sorry!” Noct cried out.

“Yeah, really sorry!” Prompto added with a whine.

“You two saw fit to pull a childish prank on us,” Ignis said, picking up the plates and setting them to the side. “And then run away to leave us worrying all night.”

“We’re really, really sorry Iggy!” Noct tried.

“Not yet, but you’re going to be!” Gladio promised.

“Seeing as how you both accept you’ve done wrong by us, do you accept your punishment?” Ignis asked. Noct remembered this line from years ago and realised what punishment he was referring to. He wondered if it was worth warping away... _Nah_ , Ignis would probably have him eating veggies for a month if he did.

With a grimace, Noct nodded and next to him Prompto mumbled, “I guess so...”

Gladio passed Noct over by the scruff of his neck to Ignis, before ordering them both, “Trousers down, boys!”

Noct and Prompto both moaned pathetically. With reluctant hands, they unbuckled their belts and unzipped their flies so that their trousers dropped to around their knees.

Ignis settled himself into one of the chairs and unceremoniously spun Noct around so that he tripped over his own feet and landed on his stomach over Ignis’s lap. Gladio manoeuvred Prompto into the same position in the other camp chair so that the two troublemakers were facing each other.

Noct shot Prompto an apologetic glance but his face flushed in embarrassment as Ignis flipped the tails of his black shirt up and tugged the back of his underwear down, exposing Noct’s bare backside to the sea air. Prompto was subjected to the same treatment over Gladio’s lap, his face so red that his freckles disappeared.

Noct tried to shift into a more comfortable position when Ignis rested one gloved hand on the small of his back and the other landed on his left cheek. Noct gasped; it had been quite a while since Ignis had disciplined him like this.

“You drag us around every fishing spot in Lucis-” said Ignis, punctuating each reason with a sharp  _Smack!_ to alternating cheeks. “-You see fit to prank us-” _Smack!_ “-You put crabs in our sleeping bags-” _Smack!_ “-You ignore Gladio’s and my desire to sleep in peace-” _Smack!_ “-You run away from camp-” _Smack!_ “-You stay out all night-” _Smack!_ “-And when you return you try to pretend as though nothing happened!” _Smack! Smack! Smack!_

Noct grunted and winced with each smack. He probably deserved this, though he did not realise how much he had made Ignis worry.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Prompto cried, desperate to avoid his own punishment even as Gladio held him down with a hand. “It was Noct’s idea!”

“Oi!” Noct yelled, disappointed at his best friend’s betrayal.

“And you went along with it,” Gladio said, settling into a rhythm of spanking Prompto’s ass, the smack of flesh on flesh filling the air. Prompto yelped loudly with each slap, his whimpering doing little to gain him sympathy.

Ignis’s hand came down on Noct’s ass again. “Do you have anything to say for yourself, _your Highness_?” Ignis asked.

“I’ve never heard you giggle like that before, I didn’t know you were ticklish!” Noct flared defiantly, knowing he was making his situation worse but unable to help himself. Ignis’s hand whistled through the air and smacked him hard; Noct had never despised those leather gloves more than he did now.

After a few minutes more of their spanking, Noct and Prompto were both yelling every iteration of “We're sorry!” “We were wrong to prank you!” and “We promise we won't do it again!” that they could think of, and Ignis and Gladio finally ceased.

“Let that be a lesson to you,” Ignis said as Noct and Prompto staggered to their feet, tentatively pulling up their underwear and trousers and massaging their sore backsides. They limped away as Ignis and Gladio finished tidying away the remnants of their campsite.

“Thanks Noct, I’m not gonna be able to sit down for a week,” Prompto groaned.

“You’re lucky- Gladio holds back!” Noct complained. His ass stung and he didn’t need to look to know it was burning red with hand prints, while his face was still flushed with humiliation. “Iggy really let me have it today...”

Ignis and Gladio caught up with them halfway to the Regalia, both of them smirking.

“We were thinking on where to find adequate lodgings for tonight, seeing as how you promised us a stay in a hotel,” Ignis said. “And we decided the Leville in Lestallum would do nicely.”

“Lestallum?” Prompto cried.

“But that’s a four hour drive away!” Noct protested. His ass ached at the mere thought.

“And aren’t you glad you’ll be sat down for the entire time!” Gladio grinned sadistically.

“ _Well played_ ,” Noct murmured. This would take some planning to come back from, but he looked forward to the challenge.


End file.
